morning tea || levi ackerman
content: ᴠᴀɢᴜᴇʟʏ ɪᴍᴘʟɪᴇᴅ ᴅᴀʏ-ᴏғғ, ᴇᴀʀʟʏ ᴍᴏʀɴɪɴɢ ᴡᴀᴋᴇ ᴜᴘ, sɪʟᴇɴᴛ ᴄᴜᴅᴅʟɪɴɢ (ʀᴇᴄᴇɪᴠɪɴɢ), sᴜʀᴘʀɪsᴇ ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ (ɢɪᴠɪɴɢ), ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴄᴄɪᴅᴇɴᴛᴀʟ sᴇʟғ-sɴɪᴛᴄʜɪɴɢ.
mentions: fiance! female! reader x levi ackerman - non-titan/modern au.
synopsis: levi ackerman has a day off with his fiance, but he doesn't know your pregnant until you accidently said it.
The first thing you noticed when you stirred awake was warmth.
Not the warmth of the blankets that you'd cocooned yourself in, nor the trapped warmth beneath them. It was heavier, more physical. It was the heat of another person pressed against your back.
Strong arms were wrapped around your waist, holding you close against a firm chest. Even in the half-conscious state you were in, there was no mistaking who it was. The familiar weight of his body, the strength in the way he held you, and the slow breathing against the back of your neck told you everything before your eyes even opened.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of your lips as you shifted in his embrace, attempting to turn around so you could see him. It could barely be considered movement, yet Levi reacted immediately. His arms tightened around your waist, pulling you closer before you could escape his embrace.
"Levi?" you murmured, your voice thick with sleep.
The only response you received was nothing more than a low grumble from him.
From that alone, you knew he wasn't asleep. It was clear that he had been awake for some time, judging by how quickly he had reacted, and from the way he still held onto you, he had no intention of letting you leave the bed.
Between your respective jobs, mornings like these were rare. There was something healing and soothing about them, allowing you to relax against the cushion of your shared bed while listening to the steady sound of his breathing.
After several more minutes in silence, Levi finally released you. His arms loosened from around your waist before he sat up. He was usually quiet in the mornings, so the silence didn't concern you.
Your half-lidded eyes followed him as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, making sure his bare feet didn't touch the floor, or it would inevitably lead to him changing the bedsheets for the third time that week.
You rolled onto your back, watching your fiancé disappear into the bathroom.
Knowing Levi, he'd spend the next thirty minutes showering under water hot enough to melt the skin off someone. According to him, the scalding water killed every germ that could latch to his skin, despite the fact that it always left his body flushed with a temporary reddish tint every single time he stepped out of the bathroom.
Even though you repeatedly told him that the heat would only make his skin more susceptible to irritation and soreness, he remained unconvinced, insisting that he would rather have sensitive skin than be dirty.
With a soft sigh, you finally pushed yourself upright and slowly climbed out of bed. The house was eerily silent as you stepped into the hallway.
The corridor was lined with framed photographs, which were kept in pristine condition due to Levi's cleaning and maintenance skills. Your attention drifted toward the photograph from your first date, a smile tugging at the corner of your lips as you stared at the picture that was nearly a decade old.
Maybe that was one of the reasons you had accepted his proposal; Levi had always been the kind of man who made you feel safe, regardless of his mood.
The kitchen was quiet when you entered, the morning sun peeking through the blinds, painting golden streaks across the floor and countertops.
You walked toward the cabinet, grabbed the kettle, and closed the cabinet door. After rinsing it beneath hot water, you filled it and placed it onto the stovetop before turning the burner on.
Once that was done, you took a seat on one of the nearby chairs.
While you sat there waiting for the water to boil, your hand drifted toward your abdomen, rubbing the area gently through the fabric of your shirt. You were around six weeks pregnant.
You hadn't told Levi yet, and it wasn't because you didn't want to.
In reality, you had spent the last several days debating how and when to tell him. It wasn't easy, especially given that Levi had never brought up the idea of having children. You hadn't even realized that several minutes had passed while you were lost in your thoughts.
You jumped slightly, quickly removing your hand from your abdomen before turning toward the sound of his voice.
Standing in the doorway was Levi, his black hair still damp and neatly combed back, not a single droplet of water left on his skin. He was dressed in his usual house clothes: a simple black shirt that hugged the lean muscles of his upper body and a matching pair of sweatpants.
He took a step forward, clicking off the stove, and folded his arms over his chest. "The water was done when I got out of the shower. Why didn't you turn it off?" he asked calmly.
"I didn't... I..." you quietly swallowed the lump in your throat before sighing. "...Can I trust you with something... important?" you said, your fingers wringing together in anxiety before meeting his eyes.
Levi knew nearly everything about you, and whenever you deliberately held eye contact with him, it usually meant that whatever you were about to say was serious. One of his eyebrows quirked upward as he leaned back against the countertop, giving you his undivided attention.
"Have you... Wait, no... Let me rephrase that... Do you think anything's weird about me?"
"Yes." he responded immediately, not beating around the bush.
Your eyebrows went up in surprise at his blunt answer. "W–wait... you already knew that I was pregnant...?"
Levi's stance immediately changed after that, his eyebrows furrowing in shock and confusion. "Pregnant?"
The room fell silent as the two of you stared at each other.
"You're pregnant?" he asked, breaking the silence, finally unfolding his arms as your words slowly sank in.
Your mouth opened before closing, but you couldn't come up with an excuse to trick him or anything.
It was already out there now so you might as well say it with your full chest, taking a deep breath. "...yeah..." you admitted softly, your gaze slowly drifting toward your hands.
At your quiet admittance, Levi looked away for a few moments, trying to gather his thoughts before turning back to you. "And you didn't tell me?" he asked, sounding neither angry nor particularly happy.
"N—no, it's just... I didn't... You never spoke of having children..."
By the time you finally gathered the courage to lift your head, Levi had already moved from where he was standing and taken the seat beside you. His bluish-gray eyes lingered on the spot where your hand had rested, and there was something almost... softer in his dark gaze.
"Stop overthinking things," he began, lifting his eyes from your stomach to meet yours. "Just because I don't spend my time talking about children doesn't mean I've never thought about them, and that certainly doesn't mean that I wouldn't want one."
You broke eye contact with him, looking away from his unwavering gaze.
"I'm not done talking," he said, lifting your chin so you would look at him. "I know exactly what you're worried about. You think I'd hate children because they're loud, messy, and dirty. And yes, they are all of those things, but none of that matters nearly as much as you think it does when it's our child growing inside of you."
"I didn't tell you because I was scared..." you admitted, your voice beginning to tremble. "I thought you'd be upset or think we weren't ready. I just... I didn't know how to tell you something this big without making you hate me."
Levi simply stared at you before placing a hand on your shoulder. "Everything was going to change eventually," he said quietly. "And if you really thought that I was going anywhere because of this, then you really haven't been paying nearly as much attention to me as I've been paying to you."
The tears you had been holding back finally slipped down your cheeks as you buried your face in his chest. His eyes narrowed, but he didn't make a move to push you away, especially knowing what he knows now.
A while passed, and neither of you made a sound, simply sitting together in comfortable silence. Eventually, you looked up at Levi through your tear-stained eyelashes, slowly sitting up, still sniffling. "Do... do you want tea?" you asked, already beginning to stand before Levi's sudden grip around your wrist stopped you. "You just told me you're pregnant, and you're already trying to get up and make tea. Sit down and let me do it."
You tried to protest, but Levi was already on his feet, crossing to the stovetop to pour the still-scorching water into a glass jug before adding the tea ingredients. He didn't say anything, but the silence told you everything you needed to know.
I'll protect both of you.
The thought made you smile, and you brought your hand back to your stomach, catching Levi's attention as his gaze drifted to the place where your hand rested. Though you couldn't see it, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips before it quickly disappeared as he looked down at the tea that was only halfway finished.
There was nothing in this world that he would treasure more than the family he had been given.
